So it’s two or three days after setting this damn thing up and I’m beginning to think to myself, what is there to say? I’m reminded horribly of my attempts to keep a diary when I was younger, all disastrous through a mix of laziness and the general mundanity of my life. By that I don’t mean my life is dull, or boring or in some way lacking – it’s not (although a slightly bigger house so I could own more books and DVDs would be nice!), it’d just that it only seems to be of interest to me (and, where diaries are concerned, even I can’t see the benefit years from now of knowing what I did on, say, May 3rd 1992 – “Bored. Watched TV. Drank.”). My friend Simon Strantzas (www.strantzas.com) always seems to be able to write insightful, intersting blogs and I can’t help but think, I’m going to be such a disapointment in comparison. Oh well.

So, we’ve established that I’m not going to stun or enlighten you, but I may as well at least inform you:

Go and read Rob Shearman’s excellent Tiny Deaths collection – won a World Fantasy Award (well deserved, I might add), and a story from it (Damned if you Do) was nominated for a WFA. It didn’t win (and my personal favourite in the collection is actually So Proud), which is a huge shame because it’s a stunning story, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.